Steam Game Charts: You Know What

Share this:

Last week’s best-sellers, today. Most of the recent mainstays are still hanging on in there, but it’s goodbye to Dead by Daylight (for now, at least). We do get two intriguing new entries, one glowering and one that is ALL THE FISH. Number one, meanwhile, is probably the number one you expected. That’s right: Limbo of the Lost is back-back-back!

Um. Disclaimer. Late in the day, I contributed some writing to No Man’s Sky. As such clearly I cannot discuss the game on RPS myself. I will pass you over to Pip instead.

“The hype train for one of the most eagerly anticipated games in the last few years, and one to which people have pinned various hopes, dreams and opinions, is finally pulling into the station this week. It’s officially out today for some regions if you play on something called a “console” but if you’re a PC princess like us there are a few more days on the countdown.

Like that three-legged cat with the scabby spine that you made the mistake of giving some ham rind to once, Hell just keeps on coming back. And, like that cat, Hell is a joyful affair despite how gruesome it is. Though, in this instance, it’s because Hell was half-price last week, in order to promote the first multiplayer DLC. Well, that’s two of DOOM’s players pleased, now can we get some singleplayer stuff, eh?

There’s rarely a specific reason for the gazillion-selling dino-survival title being in these here charts, but news that once free to play spin-off Survival of the Fittest has now been folded back into the main, paid game probably contributed to its particularly high showing here.

Spent most of last week half-price, therefore a no-brainer re-entry. It’s also had the Vault-Tec Workshop and the 1.7 patch added in recent days, donchaknow. Includes the tragic fix “Fixed issue with companions unequipping clothing when fast traveling with player.”

A true second wind for Ubisoft’s team shooter. It’s perhaps still benefiting from the free weekend at the end of the July, and from the Rio-set Skull Rain update with its new characters, map and ‘Tactical Realism’ mode, but mostly it just seems that good word of mouth is snowballing. I’ve seen smart people being extremely fond of Siege recently.

Not Telltale’s finest hour – noble intentions in terms of being an even split between the Batlike-man and the man-like Bruce, but it drags and it’s a bit too busy being a half-dozen same-but-different origin stories to tell a fresh tale. Batman is Batman though, and the people will always pay for Batman. Gauntleted-fingers crossed for a more exciting rest of season.

Hooray for ALL THE FISH. Its real name is ALL THE FISH, you knew that, didn’t you? ABZU is a ridiculously beautiful game, the sort of thing one might call ‘ethereal’ if it weren’t for the constant explosion of colour. Has a few ever-so-slightly annoying tics, but I’ll be damned if this isn’t the most amazing sight I see on my screen this year.

Dammit, so close. So very close to not having to post a snarky GIF about Grand Theft Auto for the umpteenth week. I know you live for this. I know that you think it is meaningful criticism of GTA. I know that my posting these GIFs means that Rockstar will take note and enrich GTA VI with a humanist streak. That’s the kind of incredible power I wield. These GIFs will save the world from itself.

You should, Oakreef. In fact, we all should. If we each bought a gift copy for someone else and had them…I don’t know…pay it forward or something, we could exponentially increase the number of copies sold. Think of the GIFs Alec would post then!

I thought de-new-vo Doom was Hell because it is infested with micro-particles of evil that will probably never be removed so that the game eventually self-combusts in fire and becomes unplayable when some server gets turned off in the future?

“Um. Disclaimer. Late in the day, I contributed some writing to No Man’s Sky. As such clearly I cannot discuss the game on RPS myself. I will pass you over to Pip instead.”

Why? It’s not clear to me at all. I mean I can understand disclaimer (though tbh I don’t even understand a need for disclaimer). Not writing on a thing because what: conflict of intrests, not being objctive enough? It doesn’t make any sense here…

I think it’s just that he feels like he can’t properly make an unbiased opinion on the game (and doesn’t want to risk the accusations of corruption that are so common in games journalism), and so simply puts on that disclaimer and hands it to someone else who has no relation to the game and its development.

I’d love to hear Alec’s thoughts on NMS precisely because he probably knows it better than most other writers that are gonna report on it. It’s fair enough, though, because people get all crazy about “ETHICS” when this kind of thing is not disclosed, and it’s easily solved by having an overview article by him, apart from the RPS ‘official’ review.

I tend to see RPS appending a long-winded disclaimer to every second article as a reminder to readers of how utterly unsurprising it should be that people who like games enough to make a career out of it hang out with other people who like games enough to make a career out of it. And now, in the latest entirely not-scandalous development, it’s revealed that writers who like games can both write content for and articles about games. But apparently they can’t, because reasons. The whole thing is ridiculous, so I’m totally here for the ever-more-verbose disclaimers that continue to point that out. I’m also here for any story about nuns and champagne.

It’s not ridiculous for a professional journalist to opt out of covering a company which he has worked for in the past. You’ll notice Alec still writing about plenty of other games — just not the one he has received monetary compensation for. Good on RPS for being upfront about it; it’s not as if they are short on writers to cover the biggest game of the summer.

This has been RPS’s stance from the get go – John was vehemently lambasting journalists with vested interests before it was ever made cool by the cool guys at GamerGate. It isn’t even that Alec couldn’t provide a neutral opinion. Rather, having any sort of connection to the game other than as an uninterested party immediately could lead others to question that neutrality. Why would you as a journalist want to invite that sort of criticism?

Being upfront about it isn’t playing up to the braying sh… – I mean, hip-ass kids as GamerGate, it’s simply about providing the consumer upfront information about vested interests. This allows me – said consumer – to assume that other writers are held to the same standard of ethics.

Pfft. There’s no “vested interests” when a writer has made it clear for months that he worked on a game. I don’t have any problem with disclaimers, but expecting a writer to live in an isolation chamber, only emerging to play new releases and write “unbiased” reviews is so much horseshit I can’t even.

I can understand if Alec doesn’t want to lambast the game because it’s shite; he probably doesn’t want to compromise his writing opportunities at other game publishers. I can understand if he doesn’t want to write a review because it’s more up the alley of other RPS staff. But to be blocked from giving writing anything at all thanks to a bunch of nerdy ass terrorists who expect every games writer to be “objective” is bollocks. Personally I don’t give a shit who writes about the game – I probably won’t buy it anyway because it sounds like a crafting/survival grindfest which is totally not my thing – but if it turns out this article ban is due to the misogynist douche canoes I will be seriously disappointed in RPS editorial.

Allison, there is simply nothing substantial about Gamergate as it was based upon a view of the world that has no connection with reality: It’s claims about RPS were complete and utter lies. There was nothing of substance there that could be implemented as a policy change even if RPS wanted to. And, having spoken to Jim a few times on the subject, I can say with certainty that they don’t (and to suggest that they would be that spineless is perhaps a bit… meh).

Rather, one should simply take Alec’s remark as what it is: An excuse to showcase Pip’s rad writing. And Elderflower champagne.

To be fair, GTA V has arguably been the most humanist (humanistest?) game in the franchise to date. The characters aren’t exactly likable, and the game is still intentionally misogynistic and crass, but the whole bit with Trevor’s “jailed” friend evokes some sympathy. I wouldn’t go so far as to call the game’s story well-written, but you have to give Rockstar credit for making us feel for the most unlikable of the protagonists.

That said, I’d like to see it slide off the charts too. You gotta wonder who doesn’t already own it, by this point.

I haven’t played it, but if there’s any one character in GTAV that’s half as humane as Roman Belic I will eat my hat. (I have a chocolate hat for these occasions.) Everyone hated him but he was pretty much the only one who acted like a real person in a sea of clichés, and by the ending of the game you realize he truly loves his cousin but doesn’t have the slightest inkling of an idea of how to help him work out through his incredibly deep shit.